A male Northern Shoveler navigates a shallow, flooded ditch and field next to a backroad in the Frenchman River Valley. All I did was stop my car, point, and shoot. There's a lot of water around in the spring when ranchers contract for irrigation services. Water is diverted from the Frenchman River, passing through irrigation canals that allow them to flood their fields to grow grass and alfalfa for their livestock. Migratory birds including waterfowl and shorebirds take advantage of these isolated bits of wetland habitat. Somehow, though, they know not to nest here, and instead find places where the water will remain long enough to raise a brood of young ones.

When this drake swam by, the background was mostly white from reflected clouds. Within a few seconds, though, it had moved to where the water was reflecting pale blue sky, and these proved to be much better shots. Backgrounds are as important as the main subject.

Photographed near Newton Lake in the Frenchman River Valley, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata wildlife bird waterfowl duck drake male swimming water flooded ditch field spring springtime wild prairie Frenchman River Valley Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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A few short weeks ago I was photographing ducks, blackbirds, terns, frogs, Wilson's Snipes, and even an American Bittern in this small marshy area in Grasslands Park. When I visited yesterday, it was completely dry - not an unusual scenario as we segue into late summer, but nevertheless disappointing, and raising some concern in the dim recesses of my mind. This is an arid part of the prairie. Wetlands contain such biological diversity. I don't want to lose them.

Fortunately, by late July all birds have either concluded or are in the final stages of their reproductive cycle. This mama Northern Shoveler stashed at least three ducklings in among the cattails and sedges before boldly - and noisily - swimming over to check me out. I shot from my rolling red Toyota car-blind, with morning light behind me. My files contain thousands of shots from this precise location.

But what's going on with the wetlands? We're having a rainy summer, meaning we have been receiving a few mm to a few cm of rainfall per week. However, recent winters have produced very little snow; I know this because I have to shovel the stuff, and I've gotten off easy, of late. Contrast this with the winter of 2010-11 - the year before I relocated here full time. I was out on the west coast, wrapping up business there. Friends stayed in my house that winter, while renovating their own new digs on the edge of the village. Like me, they came from another part of the country. "Prairie winters here are cold, but there isn't much snow," I had told them.

Naturally, it snowed and snowed that winter; it wouldn't stop snowing. Long-time residents said it was the deepest snow pack in 50 years. The park's resident Pronghorn herd was wiped out. The largest hibernaculum (snake den) in the area collapsed, killing a lot of snakes. Deer were wandering into the village, dying of starvation. And all the nearby wetlands, ditches, sloughs, ponds, and dugouts were topped up for years to come. The following summer, I saw Horned Grebes nesting and raising their young in the park, for the first and only time. Waterfowl and shorebirds were plentiful. So were mosquitoes.

Since then, we have slipped back into a relatively dry cycle. The wetlands are drying up. Will they be renewed? Or is this the new normal? And if the latter, to what extent is it the result of widespread climate change? Obviously no one can answer these questions definitively, and as a photographer I can only observe and report. And speculate.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata wildlife bird waterfowl duck female water pond wetland marsh nature climate change wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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A Northern Shoveler navigates the margins of a shallow slough on the spring prairie. This is a shot I probably would not have attempted on a bright, sunny day; it would be difficult not to blow out those white highlights or block up the darker areas on his head and bill. Possible, but difficult. On a day of soft light, however, he looks smashing! Of course, if he flushes, his rich colours will disappear into a white sky, so I was happy to catch him in a colourful setting as he kept a wary eye on me from the water.

This species was a rarity during my west coast days, but here on the prairie they are perhaps the most common duck - I see them on every outing.

Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2020 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Tags:   Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata wildlife bird waterfowl duck drake male slough water wetland green soft light beautiful wild prairie Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page

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Thanks to the miracle of RAW adjustments, I was able to salvage this head shot of a Northern Shoveler in a close swimby at King's Pond. In the old days of slide film, this image would not have been possible. In deep shade, the light would have been far too blue, and I could not have pulled so much detail from his dark bill and head.

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Tags:   Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata wildlife bird waterfowl duck drake male portrait wild nature wetland pond King's Pond Victoria Vancouver Island BC British Columbia Canada

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A female Northern Shoveler. Look at that fine filtering apparatus on her bill...

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Tags:   Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata wildlife bird waterfowl duck hen female portrait wild nature wetland pond King's Pond Victoria Vancouver Island BC British Columbia Canada

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